Kim Yongbeom: "Korean Firms to Cooperate with Global Big Tech on $950 Billion Semiconductor Partnership over 5 Years"

Kim Yong-bum Briefs Press in San Francisco
Samsung-Broadcom to Collaborate on USD 200 Billion, SK-Nvidia and Others on USD 750 Billion Deals
Kim Yong-bum: "Not Investment, but Long-term Purchase Agreements... These Are Pre-orders for Memory"

During President Lee Jae-myung's visit to San Francisco, USA, Samsung Electronics and SK are pursuing long-term advanced memory semiconductor supply partnerships with Nvidia, Broadcom, and other global giants, amounting to a total of $950 billion (approximately KRW 1,375 trillion) over the next five years. The Blue House explained that this partnership is not a matter of overseas investment plans by Korean companies, but rather "preorder and purchase" agreements in which global tech companies will commit to long-term purchases of semiconductors produced by domestic firms. There are also plans to pursue investment cooperation for building artificial intelligence data centers (AIDC) in Korea, with a capacity of up to 5 gigawatts (GW) and around 2 million graphics processing units (GPUs).

President Lee Jae-myung is announcing the 'Sanfran AI Declaration' at the 'San Francisco AI Summit' held at The Midway in San Francisco, USA, on the 24th (local time). 2026.7.25 Yonhap News Agency

Kim Yongbeom, Blue House policy chief, announced this at a press briefing at the local press center in San Francisco on the 24th (local time), describing President Lee's series of bilateral meetings with big tech CEOs and the achievements of the San Francisco AI Summit. Kim stated, "Korean companies and global big tech firms have agreed to pursue cooperation in the semiconductor sector totaling $950 billion."

Samsung Electronics and Broadcom will cooperate over the next five years for advanced memory semiconductor supply and foundry production of AI chips, targeting $200 billion (about KRW 290 trillion). SK will pursue long-term advanced memory semiconductor supply agreements amounting to $750 billion over five years, together with Nvidia and other global big tech firms. Of this, the scale of cooperation with Nvidia accounts for $500 billion. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang revealed at his individual meeting with President Lee and at the AI Summit that the business partnership between SK Group and Nvidia would be expanded to $500 billion. The remaining $250 billion is covered by long-term purchase contracts with other global companies, but details have not been disclosed due to internal board and disclosure procedures.

When asked about the nature of the $950 billion agreement, Kim explained, "These are long-term purchase contracts, under which the companies have agreed to buy approximately this amount over five years." He also clarified, "These are preorders for memory chips that our companies have secured." He added, "This is not an investment; rather, it means that as we manufacture memory, Nvidia and Broadcom will each purchase those quantities under long-term agreements, thus securing a stable supply volume for domestic companies over the long term."

Kim forecast that demand for AI semiconductors could exceed the volume announced so far. He shared that Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, often hears the phrase 'more chips' from CEO Jensen Huang during meetings, meaning he is continually requesting a greater quantity. "Chairman Chey joked that in a couple of months, Jensen Huang would be asking for even more than $500 billion in orders," Kim added.

Plans for Collaboration on Building up to 5 GW AIDC in Korea

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, is speaking at the "San Francisco AI Summit" held at The Midway in San Francisco, USA, on the 24th (local time), attended by President Lee Jae-myung. 2026.7.25 Yonhap News Photo by Yonhap News

Alongside long-term semiconductor supply agreements, the parties are pursuing cooperation to build AI data centers of up to 5 GW capacity in Korea. The estimated number of GPUs required is about 2 million. SK Telecom and Nvidia have agreed on technology support and priority allocation of the latest GPUs for constructing and expanding AI data centers up to 2 GW in capacity. With Anthropic, investment cooperation is underway for gigawatt-scale AI data centers in Korea. With Amazon Web Services (AWS), the plan is to expand projects centered on the Ulsan AI data center into major domestic hubs and thereby secure gigawatt-scale AI computing capability nationwide.

Kim especially noted that in addition to the 1 GW data center under discussion with Anthropic, further investment may be possible as additional sites and permits are finalized. He said, "Currently, 1 GW is confirmed, but if other regions secure sites and permits, there is potential to add another 2–3 GW," adding, "Because permitting and completion timing is crucial for AI data centers, we have been requested to expedite permitting processes."

In response, President Lee emphasized the importance of administrative speed, stating that the government would ensure swift processing of relevant permits. Naver is pursuing the construction of global AI factories worth a total of $10 billion. Naver plans to attract $1 billion of investment from Nvidia to expand GPU supply and technology collaboration, and secure up to $9 billion from global infrastructure investment firms to jointly build the infrastructure and supply chains needed for gigawatt-scale AI factories.

Hyundai Motor and Nvidia to Cooperate on AI Robot Development

President Lee Jae-myung is toasting with attendees at the Global AI Leaders Dinner held on the 24th (local time) at The Ramp Restaurant in San Francisco, USA. From the left: Lee Hae-jin, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Naver; Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group; Rani Borkar, President of Microsoft Azure Hardware; Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA; President Lee Jae-myung; Hock Tan, CEO of Broadcom; Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics; Euisun Chung, Executive Chair of Hyundai Motor Group. July 25, 2026, Yonhap News Agency.

Partnerships are also taking shape in the fields of physical AI and AI services. Hyundai Motor Group and Nvidia have agreed to jointly establish a "robot reference platform," a standardized framework for developing and testing AI robots, which will support universities and startups in their robotics development. Hyundai Motor Group will also work with Waymo on an "Autonomous Vehicle Foundry" project specializing in the production of autonomous vehicles. In addition, Samsung SDS and Anthropic have signed a strategic partnership to jointly explore new AI markets and train AI engineers. The Blue House sees that this cooperation provides a groundwork not only for semiconductor production and supply, but also for joint design of next-generation chips, domestic AI semiconductor demonstration, AI data centers, physical AI, and talent development.

At the AI Summit, President Lee announced the "San Francisco AI Declaration," expressing his ambition to foster Korea as a global base for AI production and innovation—a "key country in the global AI supply chain." He also indicated that, starting in the second half of this year, the "AI for All" initiative will provide every citizen with AI and personal AI agents equivalent to chatbot capability. Kim said, "We have begun the process of selecting operators and developing models," adding, "We expect to launch services in the latter half of this year or early next year."

Earlier, during individual meetings with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, and Hock Tan, CEO of Broadcom, President Lee requested their participation in Korea's "three major megaprojects" and expanded investment within the country. Kim noted, "The big tech CEOs had a clear understanding of Korea's three megaprojects and repeatedly mentioned them," adding, "They universally welcomed Korea's timely announcement and rapid promotion of AI infrastructure investments." He also remarked, "This summit was a major opportunity for the Korean government and companies, together with global big tech, to significantly advance partnerships for strengthening the AI supply chain and creating new markets," and, "The government and the private sector will work to generate tangible results in the three megaprojects as soon as possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.